An electric vehicle driven by an electric motor and a hybrid vehicle driven by the combined use of an electric motor and an engine have been developed in many different forms. An electricity storage unit such as a battery or the like is installed in the electric vehicle or the hybrid vehicle, so that the electric motor is operated by the electric power stored in the electricity storage unit. The electricity storage unit mounted to the electric vehicle or the hybrid vehicle is charged by the electric power supplied from a charging facility outside the motor vehicle, for example, a household commercial power supply or a power supply of a dedicated charging facility.
The charging of the electricity storage unit is implemented by supplying the electric power from a charging connector (charging gun) to the electricity storage unit through a charging socket. Thus, an opening portion (recess portion) of a charging inlet (power-feeding charging inlet) is formed in the vehicle body and a charging socket is disposed in the opening portion, so that a charging opening portion is formed. The charging opening portion is opened or closed by a lid. By virtue of the opening or closing of the lid, the charging inlet is opened or shielded with respect to the outside.
The lid is fixed (locked) in a closed state by, e.g., activating an electromagnetic actuator and causing a lid lock pin to make a closing operation. The lid is unlocked by activating the electromagnetic actuator through an operation in a vehicle room and causing the lid lock pin to make an opening operation. This makes it possible to open the lid.
The electricity storage unit of the electric vehicle or the hybrid vehicle is charged by connecting a charging gun to the charging socket with the charging opening portion kept opened. Since the charging of the electricity storage unit of the electric vehicle or the hybrid vehicle is more time-consuming than the refueling of a gasoline-powered vehicle, there may be a case where the vehicle is left alone in a charging state. Thus, there is a fear that the charging gun is removed from the charging socket and further that the charging gun and the electric power are stolen. Furthermore, there is a possibility that that the charging gun is removed from the charging socket and further that the live part of the charging inlet is exposed.
Under the circumstances, there has been conventionally proposed a lock device that fixes (locks) the charging gun in a connected state when the charging gun is connected to the charging socket. In some techniques, when a charging gun is connected and fixed to a charging socket through the use of a locking claw, the position of the locking claw is restrained by a lock pin, thereby restraining the movement of the locking claw and inhibiting the removal of the charging gun.
In the above techniques, the lid lock pin for fixing the lid and the lock pin for restraining the position of the locking claw of the charging gun to inhibit the removal of the charging gun are driven by one actuator. Thus, the locking of the lid and the locking of the charging gun can be performed by one actuator.
However, since the lid lock pin for locking the lid and the lock pin for locking the charging gun are disposed in a charging inlet (power-feeding charging inlet), it is the current situation that there is a limit in making the charging inlet small.